A surge in gold and silver prices is drawing criminal cartels to Mexico’s mining sector, forcing companies to absorb rising security costs and, in some cases, make “protection” payments or use suppliers linked to criminal groups, El País reported.

The price of silver has risen more than 120% over the past six months and gold about 50% over the same period, the newspaper said. Greater profits in the industry have come with greater violence, including the kidnapping last month of 10 miners working for the Canadian company Vizsla Silver. Five of the kidnapped miners have since been found dead. 

In June, three miners were killed in La Capilla del Taxte in the municipality of Concordia, and in February 2025 the San Rafael mine in Cosalá halted operations due to insecurity, according to the report. Since 2017, at least six mines have had to temporarily suspend operations because of violence, El País said. 

“Silver prices are at a record high, and at times like these, the activity of informal and illegal miners increases significantly,” John Price, managing director of Americas Market Intelligence, told El País. “Everyone gets involved in the mining business, even if they aren’t miners, including small or large organized crime groups.”

Even before the latest price rallies, Mexican cartels were increasingly targeting the industry, according to data cited by the news outlet. 

Extortion and protection rackets in mining increased by 16% between 2021 and 2022, according to an August 2024 report by Stratop Risk Consulting. In its report, Stratop included a 2015 comment by an executive at Canadian firm McEwen Mining that the company maintained a “good relationship” with Mexican drug cartels that had to grant permission to explore new deposits, El País said. 

Price told the newspaper that criminal groups often avoid over-extorting mining firms directly and instead focus on acquiring or controlling suppliers, such as transport services for workers, food providers, and ore-hauling subcontractors. That allows cartels to move money in the guise of “legitimate” commercial relationships and helps mining companies avoid direct violations of regulations and corporate-governance rules in the United States. 

Read more at El País